Where Have You Gone, Hank Sauer?

When Baseball Cards Were Keepsakes, Not Commodities

June 14, 1992|BY JOHN THEODORE.

He has never made Cooperstown. His space in the official major-league record book doesn`t invite comparison with the all-time greats. And his bubble gum card usually stays in the bottom of most shoe boxes.

But he was my boyhood hero. And he always will be.

Henry John Sauer played 16 years in the majors, seven seasons with the Chicago Cubs. It was during those years, 1949-55, that Hank Sauer, a slow-of- foot slugger who is best remembered for storing his tobacco pouch in the Wrigley Field ivy, became my hero.

Most of us idolized ballplayers in those days, and because I spent those days on Chicago`s South Side, devotion was usually reserved for White Sox players. Growing up a Cubs fan on White Sox turf, however, did have one satisfying perk when it came to trading baseball cards.

Most every kid in the neighborhood tried to collect as many White Sox cards as possible. Like blue chip stocks in a financial portfolio, they were the most valuable.

Kids back then actually traded baseball cards, and the goal was a simple one-to get your favorite player. Much of the satisfaction was gained during the hunt. I, too, enjoyed the hunt, unwrapping my packages of Topps to discover a White Sox player. But while my friends were collecting their heroes, I was stockpiling for the future, for the day I`d come across mine.

That`s how I made the biggest trade of my young life: Nellie Fox, perhaps the most popular White Sox player in history, for a `54 Hank Sauer. It was a deal that was the talk of the block for days. Both sides were happy, two heroes changed hands and the reserve clause never was threatened.

Baseball cards always measured a player`s worth, but that worth didn`t always center on money-or ability, for that matter. Hank Sauer`s career batting average was .266, and Nellie Fox might never make it to the Hall of Fame, but it sure helped a kid`s comfort level to know that while he slept at night, his favorite ballplayer was there on the nightstand, by his side.

Today`s collectors also get a secure feeling from their baseball cards. But their good night`s sleep comes from the knowledge that they`ve made a good investment; heroes need not apply.

I am not too sure when the spirit behind the trading of baseball cards changed, but I do believe that it has gone from an exercise in hero worship to pure materialism. Baseball cards, once icons for the young, are now financial instruments, a futures market for adolescents.

Card collecting is now a business, and like any business, the bottom line prevails. While one generation patiently traded a collection of heroes, a latter one buys short with the hopes of selling long.

It seems the romance of trading baseball cards has been lost to instant gratification. Like the current lords of baseball, kids take their money down to the local card shop to buy this month`s most valuable player.

Why trade when you can buy? Why buy a whole pack of cards and take your chances when you can buy just the one you want, the good investment.

I once gave a good friend of mine, who also appreciates the romance of baseball and its heroes, a framed rookie Sandy Koufax card for a housewarming gift. It sits in an active part of his home (on a shelf behind his bar), and each time I see young Sandy in his blue Brooklyn Dodgers cap, it gives me a comfortable feeling to know that he`s being given his due veneration.

After all, heroes aren`t proprietary; they`re stronger if they are shared among friends. Someone told me that the Koufax card was worth $320 or more. Measure that against a 20-year friendship, I said, and you`ll appreciate the card`s real worth.

There`s a sad postscript to this story. Somewhere along the way, after those so-called wonder years, when so much of our youth was traded for the trappings of ambition, when heroes were put aside, I lost my Hank Sauer card. I am sure that if I ever come across a Hank Sauer for sale, I won`t buy it. Heroes, it strikes me, are never for sale.